How do bees make honey and why do they sting?

<p>Why do bees pollinate? How do they make honey? Why do bees have stingers? Why do (some) bees die when they sting you? What's the difference between a bee and a wasp? Does honey have healing properties? Farmer and beekeeper John Hayden answers all of your bee questions!</p> <p>Download our learning guides: <a href="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/8e/f8/b0147b514953b2eb05024c28c027/how-do-bees-make-honey.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PDF</a> | <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17O14HwW2W9DA1b08WAV70t11Z52ZGMQYe4aEPL2x76o/copy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Slides</a> | <a href="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/e0/59/a1906e374bbba2909c3ea21dcca6/but-why-191-bees-repeat-transcript.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Transcript</a> | <a href="https://www.vpr.org/sites/vpr/files/202005/coloring-page-bees-honey-glass-20200508.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coloring Page</a></p> <ul> <li><p>Bees collect nectar from flowers. Nectar is the sweet liquid that entices the bees to the flower. The bees climb onto or into the flower and suck up the nectar with their straw-like mouth and collect it in a little sac called a crop. They also collect pollen on their legs. As they move from flower to flower, they leave a little bit of that pollen on each new flower they visit. That's called pollination and it’s how flowers reproduce.</p></li> <li><p>Bees take the pollen and nectar back to their hives and put it into the honeycomb (six-sided cells they have built out with wax). Pollen is like protein, one of the building blocks of animal bodies, and bees use that to feed their young mostly.</p></li> <li><p>To turn nectar into honey, bees spit it up into other bees’ mouths and eventually they spit the liquid into the honeycomb cells. Then they fan it with their wings to evaporate some of the moisture. Once it has reached the right consistency, they seal it off with wax to store it for later. So honey is just concentrated nectar.</p></li> <li><p>Bees keep the honey in storage for the winter months when th